End Times Prophecy (Eschatology) 314: Revelation Chronology
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Brian K. McPherson and Scott McPherson
Copyright 2012
Revelation Chronology: Structure in Revelation
Learning from the Precedents
At this point, we have concluded the examination of our three teaching texts from
Genesis 1-2, Daniel, and Genesis 17:23-27. What we have found in these
examples is that scripture often does not record chronology in strict accordance
with the order in which items appear in the text. Instead, we have found that
scripture employs structures that we have categorized as Series which is simply a
chronological sequence of items or events, Expansions which provide additional
details for specific items in a Series, Parallel Descriptions which either describe
events related to and contemporary with those in another Series or describe the
same events in alternate imagery, and Redundant Summaries which provide
emphasis and clarity to key points of a preceding, longer narrative.
Most importantly, all of these structures we have found to be inherent to the text
of certain passages of scripture. So, when we examine Revelation to see if it, too,
contains these structural models for recording chronology, we will not simply be
pulling arbitrary or ad hoc interpretations out of thin air. Instead, we will be
testing for and applying biblical precedents.
Additionally, we should take note that these teaching texts directly address the
issues illustrated during our discussion of the generic, existing models for dealing
with Revelation’s chronology. The discovery that these structures are inherent to
scripture, as demonstrated by the teaching texts, does several important things.
First, the discovery of these structures explains why we find a duplication of
seemingly unrepeatable events in the book of Revelation. Second, their discovery
also provides a way for us to reconcile and arrange these repeatedly described
events in a single chronology and in a way that removes duplication. Third, their
discovery provides an identifiable, definable, governing logic for interpreting the
structure of Revelation. Fourth, their discovery replaces any arbitrary or ad hoc
structural models that might be imposed on the text by ignorance or convenience.
And fifth, the discovery that scripture contains these more complicated yet still
clearly discernable chronological structures rules our the application of any achronological approach to the book of Revelation on face value. Clearly, in light
of the existence of these kinds of less straightforward structural models within
scripture, suggesting that the chronology of the book of Revelation is either
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indiscernible or not intended to be discerned is clearly shown to be the product of
ignorance, premature excessiveness, or biased convenience.
This leads to a final question before we move on to the text of Revelation itself.
Why would God choose to have Revelation recorded using these less
straightforward structural models rather than simply employing a less
complicated, single, linear chronology?
Why this Structure?
There are four reasons why this structural model is employed in the book of
Revelation instead of a single, linear chronology.
First, when considering the structure of Revelation or for that matter anything
about the book of Revelation, it is quickly apparent that it is quite distinct from
any other type of writing we have in the New Testament. The Gospels are
straightforward narratives recording the teachings and major events in the life of
Jesus Christ. Acts is also a straightforward narrative following the early years of
the church and including the story of Paul. The epistles are straightforward letters
containing segments of instruction concerning doctrine, church life, and moral
living, as well as some plain-language discussion of the Return of Christ and his
coming kingdom. But the book of Revelation is a single, mammoth prophetic
vision employing symbols and references, without much explanation, on a scale
that is virtually unparalleled in format or volume in the rest of the New
Testament.
Yet despite its distinction from the other forms of writing found in the New
Testament, Revelation’s content, imagery, visionary format, and structure are all
quite at home among the prophetic books of the Old Testament, including both
the major and the minor prophets. This fact is not insignificant when it comes to
the question of why Revelation has the structure that it does.
Revelation was written by the Apostle John in the mid to late 90’s A.D., just over
60 years after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven.
Starting with the interaction with Simon Magus, as recorded in the book of Acts,
the Church began to find itself in a struggle against a sect known as the Gnostics.
The Gnostics were borrowing some terminology and aspects of Christian teaching
and blending them with pagan mysticism. The apostles own efforts against these
Gnostics can be traced in the epistles, including particularly Paul. However, the
encroachment of Gnostic heretics upon the Church was also a significant issue in
the epistles of the Apostle John, who notably took aim at one of the Gnostics
primary doctrines, their perverse teachings denying the orthodox understanding of
the incarnation and the person of Jesus Christ.
Concerning the question of Revelation’s structure, it is significant to note that
another one of the primary teachings of the Gnostics was that Jesus Christ was an
intermediary god sent by the supreme God to free mankind from a lower deity
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that created the material universe as evil and flawed. The Gnostics equated this
lower deity who created the material universe with the God of the Old Testament,
the God of the Jews. For the Gnostics and their successors, the God of the Jews,
who is revealed in the Old Testament, is concerned with the material world,
whereas the supreme god of the Gnostics had a different plan, which the Gnostics
believed was revealed in the New Covenant. This Gnostic idea of salvation
discarded the material salvation given to the Jews in the Old Testament in favor of
a higher salvation and escape to the purely spiritual realm.
In short, the fact that Revelation opens with the description, “The Revelation of
Jesus Christ,” is the last book of the New Testament, and yet is comprised of the
same imagery, visionary format, chronological structures and completes the
promises and prophecies contained in the Old Testament is itself a decisive
argument against the Gnostic claims that the God and Father of Jesus Christ was
different from the God of the Jews and the Old Testament. As such, we must
consider that one prominent reason for writing Revelation in a format that is so
distinct from any other New Testament book is that its format is a glaring
statement that the God of the New Testament, the Father of Jesus Christ, is
unquestionably the very same God of the Jews who wrote the Old Testament and
who fully intended on completing the same plan he had revealed to the Jews all
along.
Second, the reason that these structural models are employed in the book of
Revelation is simply that they are normal ways that scripture records chronology.
Their usage in the book of Revelation is not an anomaly but instead it is part of a
larger patchwork that colors scripture as a whole. Perhaps these particular
structural models are not used all the time or maybe even frequently in scripture.
But they are normal structures that we do find in scripture. And so, since they are
not unique or unprecedented, there presence in the book of Revelation does not
require any particular explanation more so than their presence in any other
passage does. Instead, what we find in Revelation is simply a concentrated,
interwoven, and climactic masterpiece for a kind of structural device. In
summary, Revelation’s structure isn’t doing anything new and our model of its
structure is nothing unusual or novel as far as scripture is concerned.
Third, the reason these structures are used in Revelation relates to the larger
question of why such structures are used at all anywhere in scripture instead of
simple, linear accounts. And the answer is that certain narratives contain enough
elements and a complex enough series of connections to other events, figures, and
even symbolic imagery, that the only way to capture and convey the full picture
of the narrative is to use such structures. In short, some narratives involve a
complex enough combination of elements, each with their own background
context, that in order to communicate all the related material in a single, linear
chronology would require so many tangents and asides, that even a linear
chronology would be equally complex and difficult to follow. And as a result, it
actually becomes simpler to employ structures that are not limited to a single,
linear chronology.
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And while it may be easy to conceive of Genesis 1-2, for example, as being
simple enough to be recorded as a single, linear chronology, how would we learn
to understand these structures if the first time they were used was on a scale as
grand and complicated as the book of Revelation, which has to disclose the
culmination of millennia of storylines and imagery? Given the wide variety and
level of interrelationships of the elements in the book of Revelation, what more
suitable way is there to capture all of the diverse imagery and interweaving events
together than with structural models that were designed to help fuse the
connections between branching storylines? And this leads us to our next point.
Fourth, whether it’s as elementary as Genesis 1-2 or as complex as Revelation, it
is inescapably true that the structures employed in these passages do require some
effort to understand correctly. They are clearly not written in a format that is so
simple that just anyone can pick them up and correctly perceive them without
thinking too much or trying to hard. Instead, from the more basic to the more
advanced, these passages are structured in a way that requires us to think, to
consider, to search, and to become familiar with the whole of God’s Word. And
that is God’s deliberate intent.
Jesus explains this principle to his disciples in Matthew 13.
Matthew 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou
unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given
unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not
given.
Here, in verse 10, the disciples come to Jesus and ask him what the purpose is of
communicating God’s truths in symbolic language that isn’t easy for the masses
to understand. Jesus answer is that God uses forms of communication in which
the meaning is not readily apparent because the information is given only to some
and not to others. In short, the purpose of using a less apparent way to
communicate something is so that some will understand and others will not.
But why does God want some to understand? And why does he want others not to
understand? Jesus answers this as well in the next verse.
Matthew 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have
more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even
that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing
see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall
not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Here Jesus reiterates that the purpose of communicating truths in formats that are
not so easy to understand is in order to make sure some but not all understand.
More to the point, according to Jesus’ words in verse 12, those God wants to
understand the parables are the ones who already have some understanding.
Conversely, those that God does not want to understand the parables are those
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who already do not understand much at all. But again, why is God trying to give
more information to those who already have it? Don’t those who are ignorant
need the information most of all? The answer to that question comes from Jesus’
next statement in which he explains why those who lack knowledge lack
knowledge in the first place.
Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them.
Verse 15 is critical because it explains why God wants the information to go to
those who already have some understanding and, conversely, why God wants to
keep information from the ignorant. Specifically, verse 15 explains that from
God’s point of view, people are ignorant because they deliberately “close their
eyes” so that they won’t see and understand because they don’t want to be
converted. In other words, God wants to keep the ignorant ignorant because from
his point of view, they are ignorant because they choose to be so that they won’t
have to live in accordance with a knowledge of the truth. And for this reason, God
wants to first force them to consider and think about what information is already
available to them, to open their eyes instead of shutting them, before he gives to
them more information by using a format that won’t force them to think on or
value his truths.
And in contrast to those who close their eyes deliberately because they don’t want
to see and be converted, Jesus says the disciples are blessed with more knowledge
because, instead of closing their eyes and stopping up their ears, they have eyes
with which they look and ears with which they listen.
Matthew 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they
hear.
And because they look with their eyes and listen with their ears, wanting to know
the truth, rather than closing their eyes to the truth, Jesus builds on what they have
already come to know through looking and listening and helps them to understand
the meaning when God communicates in ways that are less than readily apparent.
Matthew 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he
hath.
The blessing they receive is the additional insight for understanding the things of
God, which God deliberately makes harder to understand.
But before we move away from Matthew 13, notice that this question pertains to
Jesus’ parables as a whole and not just to this one parable of the sower and the
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seed found in the immediate context of Matthew 13. For, in verse 10, the disciples
ask Jesus why he spoke in parables, not just why he used this one particular
parable on this one particular instance. Notice from verse 11 that Jesus says the
purpose deals with the knowledge of the mysteries that describe the kingdom of
God. Do a search for the English word “parable” in the New Testament and notice
how many of them either completely or partially pertain to the end of the age, the
return of Christ Jesus, and the setting up of his kingdom, just like the symbolic
imagery in the visions of Daniel and Revelation.
And not only that, but we also find specific statements in Daniel and Revelation
also indicating this principle that God wants those who seek and consider
understanding to be able to understand and conversely that those who do not seek
and consider should not be able to understand.
Consider Daniel 9, for example.
Daniel 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the
number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the
prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of
Jerusalem. 3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes…21 Yea, whiles I was
speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the
beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening
oblation. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am
now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23 At the beginning of
thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee;
for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider
the vision.
Here in Daniel 9, we see that at the beginning of this chapter Daniel is already
looking into the previous revelations from God, particularly the prophet Jeremiah,
in order to understand what the Lord was going to do in the future concerning
Jerusalem. Then Daniel begins to pray and while he is still praying, God sends an
angel to tell him to consider the vision and, as he does so, the angel will help him
to understand even further from what he had already learned from Jeremiah
concerning these matters. And, of course, the subject matter than Daniel is
gaining understanding of is once again knowledge concerning the future events
that surround the arrival of the kingdom of God.
Daniel 12 contains statements expressing similar sentiments.
Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked
shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall
understand.
Daniel 12:10 reflects Jesus’ statements in Matthew 13. In Matthew 13, Jesus
states that those who want to do evil deliberately close their eyes so that they will
not understand and so that, by understanding, they will not be converted from
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evil. Jesus also states that those who have wisdom and understanding will be
given more. Here Daniel likewise tells us in abbreviated fashion that those who
pursue wickedness will not understand but that those who are already wise will
understand.
And, of course, there is the famous vision and interpretation in Daniel 2.
Daniel 2:17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 That they would desire
mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his
fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then was
the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God
of heaven.
Here in Daniel 2, we see that King Nebuchadnezzar has received a dream and
Daniel diligently seeks God to give him understanding of that dream, and God
does. As soon as God reveals to him the king’s dream and its meaning, Daniel
makes the following statements.
Daniel 2:20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and
ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the
seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the
wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the
deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth
with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast
given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we
desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.
Notice in verse 21 and 23 Daniel states exactly what Jesus says in Matthew 13
concerning the interpretation of parables. Like Jesus, Daniel denotes that God
gives wisdom to those who already have it and those that earnestly sought it from
God, as he had. And, of course, it is no surprise that this narrative deals directly
with this process being at work concerning visions and symbolic imagery
describing the future and ultimately the events at the end of the Age.
Revelation also invokes this process described by Jesus in Matthew 13, not only
in general by its usage of symbolic visions and references to previous prophecies,
such as we saw with Daniel reading the prophet Jeremiah, but also in explicit
statements inferring the process specifically.
Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the
number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six
hundred threescore and six.
According to Revelation 13, wisdom is demonstrated or manifest in the following
manner. Those who already have understanding are to decipher the meaning and
identity of this description of the beast.
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And Revelation 17 contains an episode that is very similar to how the angel in
Daniel 9 came to help Daniel understand prophecy.
Revelation 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I
will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her,
which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was,
and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and
they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the
book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that
was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The
seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
The angel tells John that he will explain to him how the vision of the woman and
the beast works. And as the angel begins his description of what is going on in the
vision, he announces in verse 9 that this is for the mind who has wisdom, a phrase
we also saw used in Revelation 13 when those who already had understanding
were invited and instructed to consider and decipher the description of the beast’s
name. So, here again in Revelation 17, we find that those who already have
wisdom and understanding are designated as those who will be able to understand
these further parables or symbols concerning the events at the end of the Age.
Our point here is simple. God deliberately and frequently uses symbols and hard
to understand formats when describing the events surrounding the return of Christ
Jesus and the coming of Jesus’ kingdom on earth. This fact is attested to explicitly
by angels in Daniel and Revelation and by Jesus himself in Matthew. Moreover,
as Matthew 13 explains, God does so specifically to force us to open our eyes and
look diligently and to open our ears and listen intently, to think and consider the
things of God. For, in thinking on these things, we gain wisdom and in having to
strive and stretch for them we learn to value them more and more. And in valuing
them and having wisdom we learn to keep the things of God rather than taking
them for granted and neglecting them.
Thus, its no surprise that the greater the collection and volume of information
about the end of the Age and the coming kingdom, the more we will see these
tactics employed by God. It is for our benefit. He is trying to prompt us to push in
and draw near and seek him out and value truth.
With that encouraging thought in mind, we now turn to the challenging
opportunity of considering the structure and chronology inherent to the book of
Revelation.
The Chronologic Structure of Revelation
Immediately below we have placed two of the basic rearrangements from our
previous teaching texts of Genesis 1-2 (Figure 1) and Daniel 2, 7, and 8 (Figure
2). Genesis 1-2 contains the basic chronologic structures of Series and Expansion,
in which one segment outlines a sequence of events including a brief description
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and the other segment focuses on one of the events in the sequence, providing
expanded details and connections to other elements. Daniel 2, 7, and 8 contains
the chronologic structure of Parallel Descriptions, particularly Parallel
Descriptions in which each segment describes portions of the same events but
using different symbolic imagery.
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
As we went through these teaching examples in the sections above, we mentioned
that layouts such as these, although far simpler, help us to imagine the final
picture that will emerge when we rearrange the book of Revelation according to
these same chronological textual structures. For comparison, consider that Figure
1 and Figure 2 above are only 20 inches wide and 14 ½ inches tall at their
greatest extent. Now, imagine a similar layout only instead of 2 or 3 columns
wide, this time the layout is 19 columns wide. Instead of 2 or 3 chapters’ worth of
detail, it contains 22 chapters. It is a chart 97 inches wide and 63 inches tall. And
it contains (by conservative estimation) over 375 cross-references to other
passages of scripture, both inside and outside of the book of Revelation and over
55 different concepts or symbols.
Obviously, a chart that huge is not going to fit neatly into the confines of this
webpage. However, below we have included a snapshot of the chart, and although
the text of the book is too small to be legible, it at least gives a picture of the full
layout. (See Figure 5 below.)
Figure 5. (The working model depicted in the chart below is reduced in size so
that the entire width and length can be seen at one time. On the chart, the darker
grey rectangles scattered across the image are the various segments of the text.
The lighter grey, uniformly spaced rectangles behind them correspond to the
lighter grey rectangles in Figures 1-4 above and depict the 19 columns into which
the text of Revelation was divided in order to align the underlying chronological
structure. Very small, at the top of each column, you can see barely legible
chapter and verse references, denoting which portions of the text appear in the
column below it. This is similar to if we had written Genesis 1:1-2:3 and Genesis
2:4-25 above the two columns of Figure 1 above. This is the working sketch that
was developed once Revelation was divided into the various Long Series, Short
Series, Expansions, Parallel Descriptions, Interludes, and Redundant Summaries
that comprise its full text from chapter 1:1 to chapter 22:21.)
Because of the dimensions of the chart, displaying a legible, full-text chart here
will not be possible. However, it is possible to at least display a chart showing
how we have aligned the different segments of the text according to chapter and
verse numbers. Effectively, this will be the exact same chart depicted in Figure 5
above but simply without the text of the book. See Figure 6.
Figure 6 – Click here to open in new window.
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(The working model depicted in the chart below corresponds to the smaller
snapshot of Revelation's chronology depicted in Figure 5. As Figure 5
demonstrated, due to size considerations, to show a legible, full-sized chart with
the text is not possible. It should be noted that the rearrangement was developed
using the full text of Revelation, rather than simply the verse numbers, in order to
align the specific contents of each verse appropriately. However, a legible chart is
possible if we remove the text and list only the chapter and verse references.)
Just as in Figures 1-4, the chronology moves forward as verses move downward
on the chart. Passages and verses that appear side by side are covering
contemporary timeframes and related concepts. And, each new column designates
what is believed to be a separate segment of the text or chronology, just as
Genesis 1:1-2:3 and Genesis 2:4-25 are separate segments that appear in two
columns in Figure 1.
In the chart below, whenever a chapter number is given, the entry has been
bolded. Typically, chapter numbers were included on the first line where entries
appear in a column, whenever a new chapter began during the vertical descent in
a column, or whenever the spacing used for vertical alignment became large
enough to require the chapter number to be reposted for clarity.
One addition to this chart that did not appear in Figures 1-4 is the horizontal red,
blue, and orange lines. These lines are intended to divide the major contemporary
timeframes in order to help better keep track of alignment and provide an order
for the commentary that follows in the next section of the study. However, it
should be noted that these lines do not represent hard breaks, stopping points, or
gaps in the sequences of events. To the contrary, the events are believed to flow
rather than break and the lines are intended to be loose organizational aids.
Explaining the Layout
This segment of the study is the object and climax that we’ve been driving
toward. All of the earlier segments were preludes necessary to properly lay the
groundwork so that the commentary that follows would flow naturally and
concisely. After taking each step slowly and establishing the foundations with
each step, we finally now arrive at where we’ve been trying to get all along.
In this portion of the study we will identify which portions of Revelation were
identified as Long Series, Short Series, Expansions, Parallel Descriptions,
Interludes, and Redundant Summaries. We will also present the explanation for
why certain connections were made between the parts of the text, which are now
aligned according to our chart. This will include an explanation of the
interpretation of the symbols involved in the alignments as well as how and why
the meaning of those symbols relates to the chronology that developed.
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For quick reference, here again is the list of categories that were developed to
describe the chronological structure of the text of Revelation.
Long Series – the basic building blocks, providing elements or events in their
chronological order and with some description of each.
Expansions – occurring either within (Interlude) or after a Series and focusing in,
providing more detail for one or more of the elements in the Series and perhaps
additional connections to events or elements not described in that particular
Series.
Parallel Descriptions – occurring either within (Interlude) or after a Series and
providing either an alternate description using different prophetic imagery or a
description of events or elements that relate to and overlap the timeframe of a
particular Series.
Interlude – an Expansion or Parallel Description that occurs within the body of a
Series, temporarily interrupting the flow of the Series, to provide additional,
related information.
Short Series – a few verses providing a short summary list of events in
chronological order, usually without details, designed to connect elements from
different segments together.
Redundant Summaries – comprised of the Initial Description and the Repeating
Description, usually around a half dozen verses total, providing two heavily
redundant versions of the same events for the purpose of emphasis and clarity.
A Few Simple Threads
As stated above, the book of Revelation is subdivided structurally into a
combination of Long Series, Short Series, Expansions, Parallel Descriptions,
Interludes, and Redundant Summaries. And these subdivisions all involve the use
of symbols, which connect to one another as well as identify and define the events
they represent. This creates a level of overlap, which when broken down
according to these scriptural structures for relating chronology, really depict only
a total of about 8 conceptual threads. The term thread is being used here to refer
to major thematic categories that run throughout the entire book.
Or, to put it another way, the book of Revelation isn’t about 100 different
concepts. It isn’t about 50 or even 20 concepts. Instead, it’s about 8 concepts, 8
concepts that it covers in various levels of detail and interaction to each other.
And consequently, understanding each segment of Revelation is simply a matter
of identifying how many of those conceptual threads it contains, how it connects
those threads to each other, and what details it provides for each thread.
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The 8 overarching concepts described in the book of Revelation are as follows.
(Please note that although all 8 threads interrelate, the threads can also be paired
in groups of 2, with each pair containing a more direct interrelationship. Each odd
numbered thread below starts a new pair. For example, the first pair is numbers 1
and 2, which are also perhaps the clearest example of this kind of more direct
interrelationship. Likewise, thread 3 is paired with thread 4, 5 with 6, and 7 with
8.)
1. The angel’s appearing to John for the transmission of the Revelation to God’s
servants
2. The transmission of the Revelation from the Father to Jesus
3. The ministry of the 2 witnesses (including the Temple’s building) and plagues
4. God’s covenant people, Israel: purging & protection; the 144,000; building the
Temple
5. The fall of the Satanic Kingdom and the subsequent falling away in the Church
6. The rise of the last empire and the antichrist; tribulation and the persecution of
saints
7. The battle of Armageddon and the return of Christ
8. Millennial reign of Christ and the final judgment
As we will see when we examine the book of Revelation segment by segment
below, every detail in the book of Revelation can be identified as a detail
pertaining to one of these larger 8 threads. By understanding that Revelation is
really only about describing 8 overarching concepts and how those 8 relate to
each other, we greatly simplify the challenge of understanding not only the
meanings of its symbolic language but also its chronology. Ultimately, the
chronology of the book of Revelation is simply a matter of understanding how
descriptions of these 8 threads overlap each other in the chapters of Revelation.
Once we understand what is included in each thread and how each thread relates
to the others, the chronology of the events emerges with remarkable clarity and
simplicity.
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